The AILA & the CSIRO
The AILA is developing partnership with key organisations and individuals in order to achieve national recognition for the importance landscape principles in all urban, environmental, planning, management and development initiatives.
One of these partners is the CSIRO
A Talk to be given by Allen Kearns CSIRO, 14 March 2008, Canberra as part of the AILA ACT Awards evening
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A Landscape Perspective on Climate Adaptation & Sustainable Urban Development
Climate change, rapid urbanisation and the goal of sustainable urban development have now become major drivers for the design professions and environmental scientists working in the built environment and their urban bioregions. There are major challenges and opportunities for landscape architects to develop projects 'at scale' to make a significant contribution to the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions in the built environment.
A landscape perspective offers a unifying framework to link climate adaptation actions across urban spatial scales from the selection of materials in buildings to the design of urban development precincts and the functioning of our cities and regions as urban ecosystems.
Allen Kearns
Allen Kearns is an environmental scientist with international experience and practical expertise in the social, economic and ecological consequences of urban and industrial developments. Allen has developed high-level consulting and problem-solving skills on many multidisciplinary investigations for Australian and international infrastructure development projects for the mining, energy, chemical, manufacturing and urban sectors.
Allen is currently Deputy Chief, Sustainable Ecosystems, Canberra and Sustainable Cities Theme Leader. He has worked for CSIRO from 1995. He previously worked for Dames & Moore (1982-95) in the International Division in Australia, California and France and Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory, University of California, Berkeley, USA (1978-80).
Allen has developed, managed and lead teams that have made breakthroughs on projects as widespread as water management on mine sites in northern Australia; selecting the optimal route for an 1100km oil pipeline from Chad to the Cameroon coast in Africa; new site investigation and risk assessment techniques that resulted in extensive site clean-ups and urban renewal in Northern California and the implementation of ecological design principles for a new mine development in NSW and a gas field in WA. Most recently, Allen led a CSIRO team in the development of innovative sustainability principles for a new water supply dam in QLD.
